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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Redwood Valley, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Redwood Valley responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C Peak yr 2021 Mendocino County 1,623 residents 0 reporting departments 226 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Redwood Valley's departments reported 11 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 45 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
11
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
5
Residential 60% Other 40%
Property loss
$2K
$1K structure · $1K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 91% of all calls.

11
Total Incidents
Building fires 5 45.5%
Grass fire 2 18.2%
Fire, other 1 9.1%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 1 9.1%
Special outside fire, other 1 9.1%
All other categories 1 9.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 0
Feb 1
Mar 0
Apr 2
May 2
Jun 2
Jul 0
Aug 1
Sep 0
Oct 1
Nov 2
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Redwood Valley

226 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $5.6M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 78 —
2022 47 -39.7%
2023 55 +17.0%
2024 35 -36.4%
2025* 11 —

* Well below Redwood Valley's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 5 building fires Redwood Valley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
0%
0
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
100%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Redwood Valley?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 66 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.

#Area of originCountShare 
1 Undetermined 11 16.7%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 10 15.2%
3 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 9 13.6%
4 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 9 13.6%
5 Other 4 6.1%
6 Outside area, other 4 6.1%
7 Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace 3 4.5%
8 Cooking area, kitchen 2 3.0%
9 Storage area, other 2 3.0%
10 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 2 3.0%
11 All other areas 10 15.2%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Redwood Valley mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 29 43.9%
2 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 7 10.6%
3 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 3 4.5%
4 Hot or smoldering object, other 3 4.5%
5 Heat, spark from friction 3 4.5%
6 Molten, hot material 3 4.5%
7 Hot ember or ash 3 4.5%
8 Arcing 2 3.0%
9 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 2 3.0%
10 Heat from direct flame, convection currents 2 3.0%
11 All other sources 9 13.6%
04 The biggest fires

1 fires · $1K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Redwood Valley departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $1,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How Redwood Valley compares

Redwood Valley vs California vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Redwood Valley sits below the national average for incidents per resident.

6.78
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Redwood Valley
6.78
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
3.08
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Redwood Valley
3.08
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Redwood Valley
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Redwood Valley

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,716,513 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2020 Natural 589,368 44.4 mi
2018 Equipment and vehicle use 410,203 5.4 mi
1996 Arson/incendiarism 83,323 15.3 mi
2019 Power generation/transmission/distribution 76,825 40.2 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 76,067 37.8 mi
2015 Other causes 69,363 45.3 mi
2020 Natural 55,209 41.7 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 48,920 14.8 mi
2012 Natural 41,983 41.4 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36,523 2.4 mi
2012 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 29,502 26.7 mi
2020 Natural 26,196 49.1 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Redwood Valley do fires concentrate?

Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 95470 224
2 95490 1
3 95525 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Redwood Valley

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Redwood Valley. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.